Sweet start for Spitfires
Exhibition games matter. They may not count in the regular season standings. But they define beginnings and they can set a pace. Whatever the case, the Spitfires came out on top of their Ontario Hockey League exhibition schedule debut.
It was a Friday night for rookies as Windsor took it to the visiting Sarnia Sting by a 6-3 score.
Forward Ilya Protas — a 2024 National Hockey League draft pick of the Washington Capitals who Windsor took with its first pick of this year’s Canadian Hockey League import draft — popped three goals to spark the Spitfires.
This year’s first overall OHL priority selections draft pick Ethan Belchetz and second rounder J.C. Lemieux also scored for Windsor. And another rookie — and another 2024 second rounder — defenseman Carter Hicks, had an assist and was a plus 4 on the night in the Windsor win.
Second year forward Cole Davis rounded out the Spitfire scoring and Los Angeles Kings’ first rounder from this year’s NHL Draft Liam Greentree dished out a pair of assists.
